Mississippi State University Football: Tradition, Triumphs, and Team Roster

Mississippi State University's football program is a significant part of the university's identity, with a long and storied history. Representing Mississippi State University in the sport of American football, the Bulldogs compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as well as the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The Bulldogs have one SEC championship, won in 1941, and one division championship, won in 1998. They have made 27 postseason bowl appearances.

Early History and Coaching Pioneers

Mississippi State (then known as the Mississippi A&M Aggies) first fielded a football team in 1895. In these early years, several coaches left their mark on the program:

S. Martin: He left rival Ole Miss and served as the Aggies' head football coach from 1903-1906. His final record in Starkville was 10-11-3.
W. D. Chadwick: He led the Aggies from 1909-1913. His final record was 29-12-2. During his five-season tenure, Mississippi A&M appeared in and won its first bowl game, the 1911 Bacardi Bowl in Havana, Cuba. Fullback Dutch Reule was selected All-Southern. The 1911 team was also referred to as 'The Bull Dogs'.
Earl C. Hayes: He replaced Chadwick and led Mississippi A&M to 15-8-2 record from 1914-1916. Hunter Kimball received the most votes of any All-Southern halfback in 1914.

In 1925, the Mississippi Legislature renamed Mississippi A&M as "Mississippi State College," and in 1932, the mascot changed from Aggies to Maroons.

The Ralph Sasse and Allyn McKeen Eras

Ralph Sasse enjoyed success as Mississippi State's head football coach. After leading Mississippi State to a 20-10-2 record in three years and an appearance in the 1937 Orange Bowl, a loss, Sasse stunned the students and players by resigning from his head coach's duties, following a doctor's orders after a sudden nervous breakdown.

Allyn McKeen left Memphis to become head football coach at Mississippi State, where he compiled a 65-19-3 record in ten seasons. In 1940, he was named Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year after leading Mississippi State to its only undefeated season in school history and its second Orange Bowl appearance, a victory. The following year, 1941, his Maroons squad captured the first and only Southeastern Conference championship in program history. McKeen retired from coaching in 1948 after being fired by Athletic Director Dudy Noble because of a 4-4-1 season. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 1991.

Post-McKeen Years and Wade Walker

Wade Walker was promoted from line coach to head coach following Royal's departure. Walker compiled a 22-32-2 record over his 6-season tenure. In 1958 the Legislature renamed the university as Mississippi State University. The Mississippi State Maroons posted a lackluster 2-7-1 record in 1959. The following year, Walker's Maroons improved to 5-5, but students, fans and alumni demanded his ouster.

The 1970s: Upsets and Success

Mississippi State posted a 6-5 campaign in 1970, highlighted by an upset. The Bulldogs finished 6-4-1 in 1975 and 9-2 in 1976.

The Emory Bellard Era

Emory Bellard, who had resigned as head coach of Texas A&M during the 1978 season after only six games, was hired to serve as head football coach at Mississippi State beginning with the next (1979) season. He was head coach from 1979 until 1985. He was considered to have had one of the most innovative offensive minds in football and is credited for inventing the wishbone formation. Bellard spent seven seasons as head coach at MSU. His best years as the Bulldogs head coach were in 1980 and 1981, when his team finished 9-3 and 8-4, respectively. Also, Bellard was the coach when Mississippi State defeated number 1, undefeated Alabama 6-3 in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1980. However, the Bulldogs significantly regressed after 1981. In the next five seasons, he only won a total of five games in SEC play. Before the 1985 season, Bellard boldly predicted that the Bulldogs would rebound and win their first SEC title since 1941. They not only failed to do so but went winless in SEC play.

Rockey Felker's Return

Rockey Felker returned to his alma mater, which was coming off four consecutive losing seasons, from his post as wide receivers coach at Alabama. At 33, Felker was the youngest coach in the country and the first Mississippi State coach in 30 years to start his career as MSU head football coach with a winning record (6-5). However, the Bulldogs never recovered from four consecutive blowout losses at the end of the 1986 season, during which they scored a total of nine points, including a 24-3 loss to Ole Miss. Felker suffered through four losing seasons (4-7, 1-10, 5-6, 5-6) between 1987 and 1990, and only won a total of five games in SEC play. He was only 1-4 vs.

Jackie Sherrill's Tenure

After three years away from the game, former Washington State, Pittsburgh and Texas A&M head coach Jackie Sherrill was hired as head football coach at Mississippi State in 1991. He took over a program that hadn't had a winning season since 1986 (and had won a total of 14 games in that stretch) and hadn't had a winning record in Southeastern Conference play since 1981. Sherrill began his Mississippi State career with an upset victory over a familiar foe from his A&M days, the Texas Longhorns (who were the defending Southwest Conference champions). In thirteen seasons in Starkville, Sherrill coached the Bulldogs to a record of 75-75-2. His 75 wins are the most in school history. He led the team to an SEC West title in 1998, and a berth in the Cotton Bowl Classic. A year later, he notched a 10-2 record and No. 12 final ranking. That No. 12 ranking was the highest final ranking achieved by any NCAA Division I-A school in Mississippi in over 30 years. Sherrill, along with Bill Snyder of Kansas State, were among the first to use the rich JUCO systems of their respective states to help their programs progress. Although Sherrill won only eight games in his last three seasons, he built Mississippi State into a consistent winner despite playing in the same division as powerhouses like Alabama, Auburn and LSU. He also finished with a winning record against in-state rival Ole Miss (7-6). Under Sherrill, the Bulldogs went to six bowl games; before his arrival they'd only been to seven bowls in 96 years of play. Sherrill also achieved notoriety by having his team observe the castration of a bull as a motivational technique prior to a game versus Texas. Unranked Mississippi State subsequently beat the No.

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Sylvester Croom: Breaking Barriers

Sylvester Croom, a longtime assistant in the NFL and a former player for Bear Bryant at Alabama, was hired to replace Jackie Sherrill. Croom's hiring was significant, because he is not only the first African American head coach in Mississippi State football history, but also in the history of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). As of May 2024, Croom is one of only five black head coaches (excluding interims) in the history of the SEC. When Croom was hired at Mississippi State, he inherited a program that was riddled with NCAA sanctions and had not won consistently since the 1990s. Croom led the Bulldogs to a 3-8 (2-6 SEC) record in 2004. State began the season with a victory over Tulane, then lost five straight, to No. 18 Auburn, Maine, No. 13 LSU, Vanderbilt and UAB. The next week, State upset No. 20 Florida in what turned out to be the game that got Florida head coach Ron Zook fired. The next game saw State beat Kentucky. State then lost their final three games of the season to Alabama, Arkansas and Ole Miss. In 2005, State again finished 3-8. After defeating Murray State in the season opener, State lost to Auburn then beat Tulane in Shreveport, Louisiana. State then lost seven consecutive games, starting with No. 7 Georgia, then No. 4 LSU, No. 13 Florida, Houston, Kentucky, No.

Mississippi State struggled to a 3-9 record in 2006. State lost its first three games of the season to South Carolina, No. 4 Auburn, Tulane, State beat UAB to get its first win of the year in the fourth game. Losses to No 9 LSU and No. 4 West Virginia followed, then State defeated Jacksonville State to snap the two-game skid. State then lost to Georgia and Kentucky. MSST then upset Alabama in Alabama before losing to No. 5 Arkansas and Ole Miss. During the 2007 season, during which his team won eight games, including the Liberty Bowl, Croom garnered Coach of the Year awards from three organizations. On December 4, 2007, Croom was named coach of the year by the American Football Coaches Association for region two. The AFCA has five regional coaches of the year and announces a national coach of the year each January. That same year, on December 5, Croom was named SEC Coach of the Year twice, once as voted by the other SEC coaches and once as voted by The Associated Press. It was the first time a Mississippi State coach received the AP honor since Charley Shira in 1970 and the first time a Mississippi State coach received the coaches award since Wade Walker in 1957. After a 4-8 record in 2008, a season marred by lackluster offensive performances culminating with a 45-0 blowout loss to rival No.

Dan Mullen's Era

In Mullen's first season, the Bulldogs finished 5-7, ending upbeat with a 41-27 victory over No. 20 Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. In 2010, they started 1-2, and then they had a 6-game winning streak to make their record 7-2 before losing to Alabama and Arkansas, but defeated Ole Miss. The team participated in a bowl game for the first time since 2007, soundly defeating Michigan in the Gator Bowl 52-14. In 2011, the Bulldogs entered the season ranked No. 19 in the country, and they started 1-0, before losing to the defending national champion Auburn 41-34. Mississippi State entered the Ole Miss game in Starkville needing a win to qualify for a bowl bid for a second straight season. The Bulldogs won 31-3, earning Mullen the distinction as the first coach to beat Ole Miss in his first three tries since Allyn McKeen in 1941. The Bulldogs capped off the season with a Music City Bowl win over Wake Forest in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2012, Mississippi State defeated Tennessee 41-31 in their sixth game of the season to become bowl eligible. After a 7-0 start the team won only one of its remaining five games to finish 8-5, including a 41-24 loss at Ole Miss and a 34-20 loss to the No. 21 Northwestern in the Gator Bowl. This was the first time Mississippi State appeared in a bowl three straight years since 2000. 2014 turned out to be the most historic season for the team. Led by quarterback Dak Prescott, the Bulldogs reached a No. 1 national ranking for the first time ever, doing so in both the Amway Coaches Poll and the AP Poll, after beating 3 consecutive top-10 teams (No. 8 LSU Tigers, No. 6 Texas A&M Aggies, and No. 2 Auburn Tigers). As a result, the Bulldogs became the fastest team in AP Poll's history to reach the No. 1 ranking, from being unranked, in only 5 weeks. They also became the first team to be ranked No. 1 in the new FBS Playoff Football Poll and held the top ranking for the first three weeks of the poll before losing to Alabama. However, at the end of the season, only one of the three teams remained ranked. Auburn finished 8-5 (4-4 SEC) and ranked No. 22, and lost to Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl, Texas A&M finished 7-5 (3-5 SEC) and beat West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl, and LSU, finished 8-4 (4-4 SEC) and lost to Notre Dame in the Music City Bowl. The Bulldogs couldn't sustain that momentum, and lost two of their last three regular season games, first to No. 5 Alabama 25-20 and then two weeks later to No. 18 Ole Miss 31-17. That loss knocked the Bulldogs out of playoff contention, leaving them 10-2 and ranked No. 7 by the College Football Playoff Committee in their final rankings. As a result, they were awarded a trip to the Orange Bowl against No. 10 Georgia Tech on December 31, 2014. Thanks to the Bulldogs’ inability to stop Georgia Tech's heavy use of the triple option, State lost that contest 49-34. Mississippi State finished the season 10-3 and were ranked No. 2016 saw the Bulldogs stumble to a 5-7 regular season record. The season included 3 losses on the final play of games against South Alabama, BYU, and Kentucky. The Bulldogs were able to finish the season on a high note defeating in-state rival Ole Miss 55-20 in the 2016 Egg Bowl. Due to a shortage of 6-win teams and MSU's Academic Progress Rate, they made their seventh consecutive bowl appearance in the St.

Joe Moorhead and the Leach Era

Moorhead led the Bulldogs to an 8-4 record in 2018, tied for the most wins for a first-year coach in school history. However, his second season got off to a rough start when it emerged that 10 players allowed a tutor to take tests and complete coursework for them. The players were all suspended for eight games, severely limiting the Bulldogs' depth. Fans were also angered by a pedestrian offense and upsets by Kansas State and Tennessee. According to ESPN, Mississippi State officials intended to fire Moorhead if he didn't defeat Ole Miss in the 2019 Egg Bowl. However, the Bulldogs won that game 21-20 to become bowl-eligible, making Moorhead only the third Bulldog coach to win his first two Egg Bowls. The 2020 season started with a 44-34 upset victory over no. 6 LSU, who had won the CFP National Championship the previous season. However, Leach's Bulldogs struggled the rest of the season, winning only two more games, 24-17 over Vanderbilt and 51-32 over Missouri, finishing the regular season at 3-7. Despite the losing record, the Bulldogs were invited to the Armed Forces Bowl, as the NCAA waived bowl eligibility requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mississippi State faced off against no.

Championship Seasons and Division Titles

The 1941 Mississippi State Bulldogs finished the year with an 8-1-1 record and won the Southeastern Conference championship. The season included wins over Florida, Alabama, Auburn, and Ole Miss. The SEC has been split into two divisions since the 1992 season with Mississippi State competing in the SEC West since that time. In 1998, MSU finished the regular season with a 26-14 win over Alabama, a 22-21 win over Arkansas, and a 28-6 win over Ole Miss in Oxford, Mississippi. At the end of the regular season, both MSU and Arkansas finished with 6-2 conference records, but by virtue of MSU's head-to-head win over Arkansas, MSU earned the right to represent the SEC West in the SEC Championship Game. In that game, MSU led eventual national champion Tennessee in the fourth quarter before falling 14-24 in the Georgia Dome. They continued on to play in the Cotton Bowl Classic in Dallas, Texas, against the 20th-ranked Texas Longhorns.

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Bowl Game History

Mississippi State's first bowl game was against the Havana Athletic Club in the Bacardi Bowl on January 1, 1912, in Havana, Cuba.

Current Roster

Below is the current football roster for Mississippi State University.

Offense

A. Lewis #80 WR 6-1 200 lbs
A. Swann QB 6-2 220 lbs
A. Reese #76 OL 6-7 330 lbs
A. Williams TE 6-4 236 lbs
A. Smith OL 6-7 325 lbs
A. Evans #3 WR 5-11 180 lbs
A. Duncan RB 5-10 195 lbs
A. Williams #11 WR 6-3 205 lbs
B. Henderson OL 6-3 275 lbs
B. Shapen #2 QB 6-1 210 lbs
B. Steen #54 OL 6-6 340 lbs
B. Sneh OL 6-6 315 lbs
B. Smith #53 OL 6-3 320 lbs
B. Turnage #70 OL 6-7 320 lbs
D. Chester OL 6-6 315 lbs
E. Iloh #84 TE 6-9 265 lbs
E. Miner OL 6-2 305 lbs
F. Shepard #83 WR 6-2 170 lbs
G. Harris #14 WR 5-11 175 lbs
G. Jackson OL 6-6 325 lbs
I. Dent OL 6-3 318 lbs
I. Mitchell #81 WR 5-11 210 lbs
J. Matthews OL 6-6 350 lbs
J. Bufford RB 5-10 176 lbs
J. Jackson #75 OL 6-6 320 lbs
J. Whitted TE 6-6 265 lbs
J. Walley WR 6-0 190 lbs
J. Shumpert-Perkins #55 OL 6-5 330 lbs
J. LaHue OL 6-5 320 lbs
J. Primer #89 WR 6-0 175 lbs
J. Ball TE 6-6 250 lbs
K. Kolka WR 5-11 190 lbs
K. Wilson #26 RB 5-9 190 lbs
L. Prudhomme OL 6-3 318 lbs
L. Flinta WR 6-2 180 lbs
M. Nash OL 6-4 285 lbs
M. Martinez OL 6-5 320 lbs
M. Lefeau #60 OL 6-5 350 lbs
M. McVay OL 6-6 350 lbs
N. Lauderdale TE 6-3 225 lbs
R. Williams TE 6-5 273 lbs
S. Paxton #42 TE 6-3 240 lbs
S. West #87 TE 6-4 250 lbs
S. Magee #13 WR 6-2 200 lbs
S. Miles #71 OL 6-5 320 lbs
S. Traore #8 TE 6-4 235 lbs
S. Dowland #65 OL 6-6 300 lbs
T. Lockhart #58 OL 6-5 360 lbs
T. Hudson WR 6-3 187 lbs
T. Mayberry #61 OL 6-3 325 lbs
T. Miller T 6-6 335 lbs
W. Davis #56 OL 6-4 300 lbs
W. Johnson RB 6-0 220 lbs
X. Gayten #22 RB 6-0 205 lbs
Z. Owens T 6-5 385 lbs
Z. Ragins WR 5-8 153 lbs

Defense

B. Johnson #29 S 6-2 200 lbs
B. Jennings #44 LB 6-3 240 lbs
B. Lanier #3 S 6-1 190 lbs
C. Keys S 6-0 190 lbs
C. Ellington S 6-3 200 lbs
D. Russell DL 6-4 285 lbs
D. Brumfield #4 CB 6-0 190 lbs
D. Evans DT 6-5 310 lbs
D. Anderson #6 DL 6-3 280 lbs
D. Gullette #16 LB 6-3 240 lbs
D. Moye #99 DL 6-5 345 lbs
D. Reed #42 DL 6-4 285 lbs
D. McGruder DB 6-2 175 lbs
D. Russell LB 6-4 228 lbs
D. Lewis #26 CB 6-1 195 lbs
F. Clark LB 6-2 235 lbs
G. Cordova DE 6-4 270 lbs
H. Washington #21 S 5-11 200 lbs
I. Smith #2 S 6-0 220 lbs
J. Stewart #36 LB 6-1 215 lbs
J. Manning #13 S 5-10 195 lbs
J. Smith #10 LB 6-2 230 lbs
J. Burroughs #88 DL 6-3 330 lbs
J. Grimsley DB 6-2 198 lbs
J. Bledsoe #92 DL 6-4 315 lbs
J. Gilbert S 6-1 193 lbs
J. Antoine #38 CB 5-11 180 lbs
J. Jenkins DL 6-6 276 lbs
J. Jefferson #20 CB 6-1 190 lbs
J. Morant S 6-0 210 lbs
J. Purvis LB 6-1 245 lbs
K. Dinkins #35 DL 6-2 320 lbs
K. Singleton DB 6-1 188 lbs
K. Jones #1 CB 6-4 195 lbs
K. Dolby DB 5-11 194 lbs
K. Johnson #17 CB 5-11 185 lbs
L. James #31 LB 6-2 250 lbs
L. Jackson #14 S 6-1 200 lbs
M. Sylla #8 LB 6-6 255 lbs
M. Ross LB 6-2 230 lbs
M. Williams S 5-11 198 lbs
M. Miller CB 5-11 190 lbs
N. Sanders #37 LB 6-4 230 lbs
N. Mitchell #40 LB 6-2 230 lbs
N. Bargains CB 5-9 170 lbs
Q. Taylor DB 6-0 205 lbs
R. Thomas #25 DL 6-4 300 lbs
R. Jones CB 6-2 180 lbs
R. Hibbler #27 DL 6-2 275 lbs
S. Pleasant #47 DB 6-2 170 lbs
S. Smith #18 S 6-0 180 lbs
S. Kpaka DL 6-3 300 lbs
T. Hinton LB 6-3 235 lbs
T. Williams #23 DL 6-4 295 lbs
T. Reeves #48 LB 6-0 200 lbs
T. Lockhart #11 LB 6-2 225 lbs
W. Whitson #43 DL 6-5 295 lbs
Z. Tillman #7 LB 6-2 235 lbs

Special Teams

C. Ingram LS 5-11 215 lbs
E. Myers #45 LS 6-1 220 lbs
H. Hammond LS 5-10 195 lbs
K. Cosper #39 LS 6-4 215 lbs
K. Ferrie #80 K 6-1 205 lbs
L. Beard LS 6-1 220 lbs
N. Barr-Mira K 6-0 185 lbs
W. Wilkinson #47 K 6-2 185 lbs
Z. Haynes P 6-1 195 lbs

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